GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The female corrections officer who was brutally attacked by an inmate who was bent on escape has been terminated from her job at the Kent County Jail.

Jaclynn Rodriguez had been on the job about nine months on Sept. 14, 2012, when she was attacked by Willie Lee-Wilson Williams.

Kent County Undersheriff Jon Hess said that following the incident, the department conducted an internal affairs investigation and as a result, the 24-year-old is no longer employed as a jail guard as of Monday, Sept. 23.

“She did not complete her probationary period,” Hess said.

Rodriguez testified during the trial where Williams was found guilty of attempted murder that she had let the inmate out of his cell so he could retrieve some toilet paper.

But instead of returning to his cell, Williams hid behind a pillar and eventually attacked the 23-year-old guard by knocking her to the ground and strangling her to the point of unconsciousness.

Video from the jail shown to a Kent County Circuit Court jury in July showed the deputy flailing and then going still as she was strangled.

“I was pretty sure he was going to kill me,” Rodriguez said.

During the trial, Rodriguez said when she first saw Williams, she tried to grab her pepper spray and radio, but he was too fast.

She said she was strangled to the point of unconsciousness at least three times.

She said she gave Williams her keys, but he could not figure out how to use them and then strangled her again when she called for help.

As the assault was occurring, numerous inmates got out of their cells and some came to her aid, hitting Williams and throwing objects at him. Inmates also alerted other jail personnel to the incident.

Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Robin Eslinger said the only thing that stopped Williams from killing the deputy was the actions of the other inmates.